Love and War
by RedgeandLilly
Summary: An unexplored pairing now explored! Ax is in love! But with who? With his worst enemy of course . . .*evil laugh* Ax/OC
1. Chapter 1

Okay first off just want to put out there that I do not own anything in this story. The character 'Vexic 929' is the property of Vexic929 which I have gotten permission to use. The awesome series Animorphs belongs to K.A. Applegate. I don't own Ax or any other characters in this story. The thought speak won't show up anymore so thought speak/ yeerk talking to host/ host talking is symbolized by / \\. Bold and italics are memories. Kay now that this disclaimer thingy is done onto the story!


	2. Chapter 2

VEXIC'S POV-Breakup with a self-absorbed Dapsen

It had been four months. 124 days, 2,976 hours, 178,560 minutes since my relationship with Themrash had ended. It had been the logical move of course. Themrash was nothing if not logical. It still stung though that he would drop me just because of his new promotion. Can't have the clingy Sub-Visser hanging around can we? Themrash, oh excuse me; Visser 36 seemed to have no problem forgetting all about me. I however was having more difficulty with the transition. I alternated between being altogether pathetic or irate. At the moment I was the latter.

/Who does he think he is? Breaking up with me! _With me!_ That Dapsen!\\ my host Laura was depressed. She did not share my attitude. Tom, Themrash's host, was the one she pined for. She knew Tom couldn't have done anything to stop what had happened; one of the downsides to having a Yeerk in your head. She didn't fight me much anymore making my miserable existence extremely boring as well.

/He thinks he's Visser 36 of the Yeerk Empire, head of the invasion of Suira Esh`Kol, bane of the Andalites' existence.\\

/Have I ever mentioned how much you annoy me when you're right?\\

/Yes I believe you have mentioned that once or twice.\\ She said rather smugly.

/He's still a Dapsen.\\ I muttered.

I pushed myself into a sitting position. I had sulked long enough. I checked my watch. 2:00 pm. I had about an hour till I needed to be there but I decided I'd go see if they needed help setting up. If I stayed here I was only going to make my mood worse. So I gathered up the reports I had to deliver to the Visser, ran a brush through my hair, changed into jeans and black tank top, and headed off to the Community Center.

I got out of the car grabbing the reports in one hand and strode purposefully toward the double doors of the Community Center. I hadn't gotten even halfway before someone fell into me sending the reports flying everywhere.

I would have expressed my displeasure thoroughly and at great length had I not been stunned momentarily by who I was staring at. He was an adolescent male, probably around my host's age, maybe 5'8 with slightly muscled arms. His face is what was captivating though. He had dark brown eyes, sun streaked brown hair, and very symmetrical features. There were aspects of him that reminded me of somebody else but I couldn't quite figure out who.

"I am so sorry. Re. Sorry. I am not very coordinated." He got to his feet. He offered me his hand and I took it. He looked around to see the papers that had scattered. He reached toward one.

"No. Let me get those." I said. If he looked at a single word on those papers he'd have to become one of us. But why did that seem like such a bad thing to me? Wasn't that my job? _No not yet. He doesn't need to be one of us yet._

I bent and gathered my fallen reports. "Are you sure you do not want assistance? Ance?" What was that with the repeating thing? I shook my head.

"No I'm good but thanks for helping me up."

"You would not have needed assistance if I were less clumsy." He said with a small smile. The smile lit up all of his features. Again I felt that nagging sense of recognition.

"I'm Laura."

"I am Phillip."

"Will I be seeing you at more of these meetings?" I wondered how long he'd been coming. Surely I would have noticed somebody this hot even in the midst of a Themrash-induced depression.

"Perhaps." He said cryptically. Then I looked at my watch. 2:56 pm.

"Crap! I gotta go, but it was really nice meeting you Phillip." Then I rushed off hoping the Visser wouldn't decapitate me for being late.


	3. Chapter 3

AXIMILLI'S POV- Human Idioms and frightening dreams

I was at Marco's house. Prince Jake was there also. Marco's father was working and therefore not at home. Jake and Marco were playing on a primitive human gaming system called a 'Nintendo'. I did not see the purpose of it but Prince Jake and Marco seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. After the fifth time Marco had won Prince Jake conceded Marco was the superior warrior.

"Marco?" I said interrupting his gloating. He and Prince Jake turned to me surprise plain on their faces. I was generally silent during their Nintendo ritual but I had questions for Marco.

"Yeah Ax-man?"

I wasn't quite sure how to phrase my question so I forestalled asking it by asking another question.

"You have much experience in the ways of Human females?" Marco grinned broadly.

"Oh yeah Ax. I am like a pro with Human females. They can't resist me."

"What does it mean if I have a fluttery feeling in my stomach and my hearts, sorry, heart, speeds? Am I becoming ill?" I saw Jake and Marco exchange a knowing glance and a small smile.

"No Ax." Jake said. "You have what we humans like to call a crush."

"I have no wish to compress her."

"No, no Ax. It's a human phrase. One of those idioms we're fond of."

"I do not understand."

"It means you got bit my friend." Marco said happily.

"Where?" I asked looking myself over.

"What Marco is trying to oh so eloquently say is you've got a case of puppy love Ax."

"Puppy? How does a puppy love? Is it sentient?"

Marco shook his head. "I don't even know why we try. Okay so who is the lucky girl?" I thought back to our meeting and my stomach fluttered again and my pulse quickened.

"Laura."

"Which one? Berkley? Johnston? Cook? Bridgman?" I shrugged.

"I did not get her surname." Marco rolled his eyes and muttered;

"Hopeless. Did you at _least_ get her phone number?"

"No…" Marco put his head in his hands.

"We have a lot to teach you and not a lot of time to teach it to you in."

"What will I be learning?" Marco smiled grimly.

"Everything. Everything there is to know about how to be a human guy."

I laid down in my scoop several hours later baffled by the strange inner workings of the Human male psyche. I closed my eyes and drifted uneasily to sleep.

_We walked along the beach our hands intertwined as I had seen the others do on occasion. I now understood why. The fluttering in my stomach had multiplied as she led me across the dunes her hand never leaving mine. I watched her as she moved. She was beautiful. She stopped suddenly and let our hands drop. She reached up, as l was much taller than her, and guided my face down to hers with a gentle touch. Moonlight bathed her in an ethereal glow and her eyes danced. Her breath was warm against my face as she spoke. _

_ "You're dead Andalite." _

I woke with a start. 


	4. Chapter 4

VEXIC'S POV- American Eagle and Tabasco sauce

Luckily the Visser himself had been late for the meeting so I got to keep my head right where I liked it. It was about a week from said meeting when I saw him again. Torias and I had just finished shopping at American Eagle. This served the dual purpose of helping us pass as normal teenage girls and helped us scope out the location for the new Yeerk pool entrance. We couldn't put it in the dressing rooms again. We were fairly sure that the Andalites had already discovered the entrance concealed in The GAP dressing rooms. So we were discussing the problem as we walked toward the food court.

"How about in Silar's office?" Torias suggested. I shook my head.

"No too many people demanding to see the manager would look bad. Normal Humans would stop coming and then the Andalites would know something was up. They'd be able to identify _a lot_ of controllers that way." I winced at that thought. Torias sighed.

"Right. So that is the opposite of helpful. What else? The back rooms? We'd have to take all the employees then…"

"Maybe. The idea has merit, we'll keep it on our list of possibilies." That's when I heard them.

"No A-Phillip! Man that's not right…" I turned in the direction of the disturbance and saw him. I could see what Rachel, for it was Rachel who had been protesting loudly, was on about. Phillip had an empty bottle of Tabasco sauce in front of him. The short sandy haired boy next to her was doubled over in laughter. Rachel was shaking her head disbelievingly. Phillip didn't even seem to be phased by the sauce's spiciness. He was grinning broadly and had a look of sheer amazement on his face. I almost grinned myself. The look reminded me a little of a Yeerk with its first host. Though none of us would ever have admitted it that was very close to the look on our faces. I heard Torias giggle, following my gaze.

"He looks like a kid locked inside Disneyland." I laughed.

"Yeah he does." He looked around then and our eyes met. His grin transformed into the same face-lighting smile I had seen outside the community center. Some emotion I couldn't decipher flickered in his eyes. I waved. He waved back and beckoned for us to come over. I shrugged and looked at Torias. For some odd reason she was smirking at me.

Torias sat down opposite Rachel and I sat opposite Phillip. He was still looking at me with that odd expression on his face. His brown eyes bored into mine as if trying to see me behind Laura's eyes. I did not avert my gaze as was my instinct but stared back with equal intensity.

"Um Laura… I'm gonna go browse the shelves at Borders okay?" I looked at her startled. What? She was leaving? Why? She shot a conspiratorial glance at Rachel who grinned back.

"Yeah I need to get the new issue of Teen Vogue. I'll come with you." She turned to the short sandy haired boy and winked. "You coming Tobias?"

"Sure." And then they left leaving me alone with Phillip. Not that I particularly objected to that . . . but I was so gonna get Torias for this later. When I turned my gaze back to him he was staring at me again.

"Okay. What the heck are you staring at?" Blunt I'll admit but it was beginning to unnerve me.

"You."

/And you thought you were blunt.\\ Laura said with a laugh.

"Why?"

"You are extraordinarily beautiful. Is it not appropriate to appreciate beautiful things?" I flushed scarlet.

"Um. . . yeah. You're not so bad yourself." I mumbled.

/Not bad! He's gorgeous!\\ Laura. I felt the urge to roll my eyes.

"Thank you." He said blushing a little himself. Then he met my eyes.

"I would like to spend more time with you. Would that be at all possible?" He did not say it jokingly. There was absolute sincerity in his tone. This Human . . . could this human have a crush on me? I pretended to think about it.

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"I am not sure. Do you have a location in mind?" I smiled.

"Well I do go to the sharing. We could go there." Something flickered in his eyes again this time I was able to decipher it. Suspicion. Then he was smiling what was quickly becoming my favorite smile and I decided I must have imagined it.

"Very well. When is the next event?"

"Two days from today. Starts at 7:30 and ends and 11:00. The gym is being remodeled so we're hosting the dance at the community center." He nodded.

"Do you have a partner?" He asked.

"No. My boyfriend broke up with me." Phillip's expression darkened.

"Then he was a fool." I blushed again. Phillip's expression cleared.

"Then may I have the very great pleasure of taking you to the dance?" I smiled genuinely for the first time in four months.

"Yes you may. I'll meet you there?"

"Yes."

Torias slid into the chair next to me with an exaggerated sigh. "What a crappy selection!" She said trying to sound put upon. Then she laughed.

"C'mon Laura we've got to go dress shopping." She winked at me. When we were safely away I punched her.

"Ow! What was that for?" she asked feigning ignorance.

"For running off and leaving me like that!" She smirked.

"But he asked you didn't he?"

"Yes. But if you ever do that to me again . . ." She laughed at my expression.

"You'll kill me." She said happily. "Sure.


	5. Chapter 5

AXIMILLI'S POV-Love and war

I soared above the community center. Today was an excellent day for flying. Tobias was higher up than me but still within easy 'hearing' distance. Tonight I would be going into the midst of the main Yeerk front on Earth to see _her_. That still wasn't for several hours but just the thought of it quickened my heartbeat. Who was this girl that she could affect me like this even in the body of a Northern Harrier? Tobias, Rachel, and I had been alternating doing surveillance on Laura. As I watched her in her day to day routines I felt the feelings solidify and become deeper. Was it possible . . . could I love this Human?

Still the dream plagued me. So I had asked Tobias and Rachel if they would help me do surveillance. As a result we had spent the last two days following her everywhere. I saw, not that it surprised me, that she was strong-willed and stubborn. If she had an opinion she expressed it. That was not to say she was hot-headed. She was extremely rational and her ideas were always well thought-out. _She would have made a good Andalite._ I thought wistfully.

/What's on your mind Ax?\\ Tobias asked. Tobias knew me as only a shorm could. The others would have interpreted my silence as 'just being Ax' and ignored it but Tobias knew something was 'on my mind' as he put it. I sighed.

/How is it that this girl who I have met only twice can affect me even in the body of a bird?\\ Tobias laughed.

/Ax when you know you know.\\

/What do I know?\\

/Come on Ax-Man you know what you know.\\

/Huh?\\ I asked totally bewildered.

/Love is where it is Ax. Accept it. Embrace it.\\ So it was love. I felt strangely light all of a sudden, acknowledging this fact. We flew for another hour until I had to land and demorph.

/Go ahead and go on to Rachel's Ax. I can take it from here.\\

/You are sure?\\

/Yeah. Rachel will have picked out an entire outfit for your big night. So you'll need the extra time.\\

/Should I be scared?\\ I asked with some trepidation. Tobias's laugh was not at all comforting.

/Terrified.\\

Music played. People shuffled their artificial hooves to the beat. Food was everywhere. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to leap onto the buffet table. The smells were intoxicating and the food looked even better than it smelled. Still, I did not want to make a fool of myself in front of Laura. Also I remembered the warning Rachel had given me that if I got anything on my new clothes she would beat me until I cried for my mother. I believed her.

"Hey you." said a voice behind me. I turned and was momentarily stunned into silence.

Laura was clothed in what humans called a dress. It fit to her shape perfectly accentuating her curves and complimented her skin tone well. Her dark hair fell around her face in waves gleaming softly under the pale blue lights that shone over the entire dance floor. She wore very little ornamentation except for a band around her wrist and a small pin in her hair. She smiled and her eyes danced, subsequently causing me to lose my train of thought again.

"Phillip?" She made my name a question.

"Sorry. I forgot how to speak for a moment." Her cheeks flushed and she averted her eyes mumbling 'thanks'. Her eyes strayed out to the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?"

"I am not a very good dancer." I admitted ruefully. "You've seen how coordinated I am." She held her hand out to me. I took it hesitantly and my stomach fluttered more than ever. She led me on to the polished wood of the dance floor. She took my hand and placed it on her waist. My heart skipped a beat.

"Your hand goes here." She said with a small smile. Then she took my other hand in her own. She placed her other hand on my shoulder. Our bodies were extremely close. I could feel her heart beating against mine and was elated to hear that it was not going the usual speed for a human either. "Now you take a step forward." I did and she took a step back. Ah I understood. So she would not get her toes stepped on. "Now step sideways and touch your other foot." I did and she stepped with me. "Good. Now I step forward and you step back." I did. "Now slide that foot over to touch the other one." I did and then we were back in the position we started. She smiled at me.

"Easy right?" I smiled back.

"Yes. May we try this again?"

"Sure." A new song came on and this time I paid attention to the words.

'_I don't know but I think I may be falling for you dropping so quickly . . .' _

I pulled her tighter against my chest, this human that I loved. She twirled gracefully away from me and then was back into my arms and we started to dance again. Her eyes were alight with a fierce joy. She was dazzling.

'_Maybe I should keep this to myself, wait until I know you better. . .' _

I didn't understand until this moment what Jake and Cassie or Tobias and Rachel went through. How could they stand it? Not being near the one they loved? And I knew for certain now that I did love her.

'_I am trying not to tell you, but I want to, I'm scared of what you'll say. . .' _

I also realized in that moment that my love was dangerous for her. For both of us. If the Yeerks ever learned of her, of my feelings for her . . . they would use her against me. She must never know what I was.

'_So I'm hiding what I'm feeling but I'm tired of holding this inside my head. . .'_

This was pure torture. There was so much I wanted to tell her, to show her that I knew I couldn't. She danced on, oblivious to the pain in my eyes. It was a good thing I had not yet mastered human expressions fully.

'_I've been spending all my time just thinking about ya, I don't know what to do I think I'm falling for you I've been waiting for all my life and now I've found ya, I don't know what to do I think I'm falling for you. . .'_

As I looked into her eyes I saw an echo of the pain in my own eyes but when I looked back she was smiling. I decided I must have imagined it.

'_As I'm standing here and you hold my hand pull me towards you and we start to dance all around us I see nobody here in silence it's just you and me. . .'_

I was in the middle of the Yeerk front organization. The people dancing around us were probably controllers. I didn't care. Right now the only person I could see was her. She felt remarkably fragile to me in that moment. '_I will protect you'. _I vowed silently.

'_I am trying not to tell you, but I want to, I'm scared of what you'll say, so I'm hiding what I'm feeling, but I'm tired of holding this inside my head. . . I've been spending all my time just thinking about ya, I don't know what to do I think I'm falling for you I've been waiting for all my life and now I've found ya, I don't know what to do I think I'm falling for you. . .'_

She stared up at me and her lips parted as though she wanted to say something. What is she thinking? Can she possibly feel as confused as me? Her lips close and my heart sinks a little. It lifts again when her hand clasps mine tighter.

"Let's go." She says and the light is back in her eyes again. She leads me away from the dance floor, away from the impossibly delicious food, and the party altogether. She led me out onto the beach our fingers still intertwined. The night was lit only by the moon and stars. We walked and the only sounds were our breathing, the lap of the waves against the shore, and the faint strains of the song.

She stood staring up at the stars. "I love the night sky." She said simply. I walked slowly to stand close to her.

"Yes it is quite beautiful."

'_Oh I just can't take it, my heart is racing, the emotions keep spinning out. . .' _

I reached down and took her face in my hands. Her eyes widened slightly. I bent slowly giving her time to protest if she wished, and pressed my mouth against hers. Her hand came up to touch my face, my hair. I felt an odd thrill at my success. I broke away after a moment.

'_I've been spending all my time just thinking about ya, I don't know what to do, I think I'm falling for you, I've been waiting for all my life and now I've found ya, I don't know what to do I think I'm falling for you. . .'_

"I must go." I said apologetically. I gave the excuse Tobias had told me to give when I had to get away to demorph. "I have to make curfew." She made a face then grinned mockingly.

"Bummer. See you soon?" I nodded vigorously.

"Most definitely."

"Bye then." She kissed her fingers and then blew it at me. I figured this was some sort of human farewell and smiled back. Then she looked away. I walked a safe distance away then demorphed and morphed Northern Harrier. My heart felt weightless as I gained altitude and flew over the trees toward my scoop. I had barely demorphed when Tobias landed and began to morph.

/What is it?\\ I asked alarmed. Why did he feel the need to morph?

/I need to look you in the face when I tell you this.\\ his tone sent a chill down my spine. When he was fully human Tobias straightened. He turned and the look on his face froze me in place.

"I'm sorry Ax." He said.

/No.\\ It couldn't be. . .

"Laura is a controller."


	6. Chapter 6

VEXIC'S POV- Dreams and Poolside talk

Laura was dreaming about Tom. On any other night I would have watched and the dream would have made me miss Themrash. Not tonight though. Tonight I was thinking about Phillip. His face seemed to haunt me everywhere I went. It felt wrong to be without him. Oh Dear God I can't. I can't fall in love with a Human! Falling in love with one of my own was one thing but this . . . this would be considered treason. I had thought it had been all Laura, her pheromone filled body playing tricks on my mind. It had happened before with others, but the confusion always went away after the Yeerk disconnected from the brain.

I had left Laura that night and to my utter horror I was still thinking about him. More even than when I was with Laura! Laura had seen it as a betrayal to Tom and when her distracting emotions were gone I found that I could focus on the memory of his moonlit face all too clearly. So it was me that was supplying these feelings? How could that be possible? By the Kandrona he wasn't even my species! How could a Yeerk love a human? I did love him though and the thought of one of my brothers taking him, of him knowing what I was and hating me for it, was agonizing.

/I am so whipped.\\ I muttered to myself.

I didn't see Phillip over the course of the next few days as I had hoped. Laura was beginning to become irritated with my gloomy mood. She figured if she wasn't allowed to be depressed because her boyfriend was light-years away in another galaxy and could die anytime without her knowledge, then I'd have to live a couple days without getting a phone call.

I had to go to the pool much to Laura's dismay. Laura had almost found being stuck in a cage bearable if Tom was stuck in the same cage with her. Now she felt the same things she had in the first months of her infestation; rage and despair. I descended the stairs down to the complex. I heard soft footsteps behind me but did not turn. It really didn't matter who it was, we were both here for the same reason.

I guided Laura's body toward the pier and waited as the people in front of me knelt and inclined their heads toward the pool. Three ahead of me. Then two. One more. My turn. I knelt and brushed the hair away from Laura's right ear. Then I released my hold on her brain. As I landed in the pool I didn't care that I was blind and deaf. I was with my kind soaking up the Kandrona rays that my body craved. Suddenly without warning Phillip's face, eyes filled with that incomprehensible look, filled my consciousness. I would have smiled if I'd had a mouth. Then another picture took its place. Phillip's face cold, his eyes mocking, the set of his jaw hard. One of us. I wanted to scream at God or the Ellimist or whoever it was out there; "Why me?"

When I took Laura again she could sense my frustration and its cause. She laughed at me. When I had first taken her she had thought me unbeatable. I now had a problem I couldn't solve and we both knew it.

/If you keep dating him you'll eventually have to infest him.\\ I winced. /But if you don't you are losing the man you love. If you refuse to infest him you are labeled a traitor and killed. If you tell him what you are he'll hate you, someone will find out, he'll be infested and you'll be executed.\\ She laughed again, mocking me. /Ain't love grand?\\ I let out and exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. Torias sat down next to me. She saw the expression on my face.

"Is something wrong Vexic?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just have a headache." She nodded accepting my answer.

"A huge freaking headache." I muttered under my breath.


	7. Chapter 7

AXIMILLI'S POV-Doubts and Realizations

A Yeerk. She was a Yeerk. The girl I thought I loved was a controller. How long had it been that way? Most likely the whole time. So was it the girl I loved or . . . no. There was no way I could love one of those parasites. Still I was unsure. It had been almost three days since I had found out she was a controller. I had been disbelieving at first, then appalled. I had kissed her! I had willingly touched one of them! The others had tried to make me feel better by telling me it was all physical attraction to Laura but I knew better. It had been my observations of her character that had caused my 'crush' to become something more. Artifice, all of it.

_'Unless it wasn't'_ a voice argued. No. It had to have been all Laura as the others had said. If only there was a way to be sure . . . and there it was. A thought I didn't want to have but that would show me for sure. I ran outside the scoop and woke Tobias. He ruffled his feathers grumpily as I explained my plan.

/You know Jake will kill us when he finds out about this?\\ I looked down ashamed. I was doing this without the knowledge and consent of my Prince.

/I understand.\\ Tobias flew down to perch on my arm. Then he began to shrink. I did not watch as he changed.

/Okay Ax-man I'm done.\\ I lifted Tobias, now fully Yeerk, to my ear.

We landed at the community center. Tobias had given me control. When I morphed human I did not use my normal human morph opting instead to blend Cassie and Rachel's DNA. The result was an extremely pretty female with brown hair and skin that was lighter than Cassie's but darker than Rachel's. My morph stood only about five feet off the ground.

/More like five six.\\ Tobias said admiring the reflection in the mirror. /Man Ax you make an extremely attractive girl.\\

/Thank you . . .?\\ Tobias laughed at my hesitation. Then he was serious again.

/We'd better get going.\\ I ceded control to him as we walked from the bathroom. I didn't know where exactly to go, only knowing the general location from our surveillance. We were saved from looking like total fools by the arrival of several known controllers, one of them Laura. We waited until everyone had gone past us and then followed behind.

/So why'd you change your morph Ax?\\ Tobias asked as we watched the people ahead of us enter the Gleetbiofilter.

/I could not use my normal morph. Laura knows me. I would have to keep up the pretense of being a controller by returning to the Yeerk pool every three days. She might even ask me for my designation and rank. She is far less likely to question me this way.\\

/Ah. You've put a lot of thought into this haven't you?\\

/Yes I have.\\ There was one more person between Laura and the Gleetbiofilter. Then she was stepping through. The doors swung open again. Tobias hesitated then stepped forward. I waited, perhaps irrationally, for the Biofilter to give us away. There was not a single 'BREET'. The light turned green and the doors swished open to reveal the winding staircase that led down to the pool complex. I felt Tobias struggle to keep my face blank as screams, howls of rage and pain, and plaintive weeping assaulted our ears. We walked behind right behind Laura. She did not turn to look at us, not that she would have recognized me if she had. Then the stairs ended and the pool complex came into view.

We went over to a table where some Yeerks and free humans ate. We simply sat and watched. I watched intently as Laura came closer and closer to the edge of the pier. I tried to swallow my disgust as the Yeerk left her ear. She began to struggle fiercely but even so she was no match for a full grown Hork-Bajir. She was tossed in a cage with three other Humans.

She sat down and as I watched her I realized I did not know her. The eyes I saw glaring at the Hork-Bajir or looking mournfully at the floor of the cage were not the eyes of the girl I loved. When the Hork-Bajir came to drag her to the pier again I watched the way her body moved. No. Not the girl I loved. Then she straightened and looked around her and I saw the eyes I'd searched for in the Human's face. When she walked away I saw the easy stride I had been missing. It was the Yeerk. It was the Yeerk I loved.

/Ax . . .\\ Tobias warned hearing the direction my thoughts were going.

/I know.\\ We left. Tobias exited my head and demorphed in the sharing's bathroom.

/Hey Ax? I'm gonna spend the night at Rachel's if you don't mind.\\

/I do not.\\ I hesitated. /Tobias? I would appreciate it if you would not tell the others of this.\\

/Alright Ax.\\ Then he took flight. I morphed owl and flew back to my scoop, still somewhat stunned by my revelation. I turned on the Television too keyed up to sleep. Tobias had apparently been watching MTV because the song's lyrics blared out of the speakers at me like a message sent from some unknown God above.

'_So many thoughts that I can't get out of my head, I try to live without you every time I do I feel dead. I know what's best for me but I want you instead, I'll keep on wasting all my time_' I shut the television off and curled up.

/The universe hates me.\\ I mumbled to myself.


	8. Chapter 8

VEXIC'S POV-Discussions and Discoveries

"Phillip!" I was so happy to see him. Reasonable or not, traitorous or not, I was overjoyed. He turned and smiled but there was something different in his eyes. My heart faltered for a moment; surely he couldn't be a controller already? Looking closely I saw to my great relief that he wasn't. There was however wariness in his eyes that hadn't been there the last time I had seen him. I strode over to where he sat. He had a pamphlet in front of him. I looked closely and saw that it was a 'how to' on the process to becoming a full member.

/Ha. That thing is a joke.\\ Laura said. /Step one: Come to the sharing. Step two: accept a bunch of lies and other such bull crap. Step three: Ask a parasite from outer space if they'll stick a Yeerk in your ear pretty pretty please. Step four: Welcome new full member! You've joined the Yeerk Empire.\\ Her saracasm would have amused me any other day. Today I was worried sick that Phillip might become a 'full member'. I pretended I hadn't seen what he was reading and glanced down at it.

"It's not so great." I said.

"What isn't so great?"

"Being a full member. It's not what everybody here cracks it up to be." I shrugged feigning nonchalance. He stared at me with incredulity in his eyes.

"But aren't you a full member?" He asked. "Aren't you supposed to tell me how great it is? Tell me that I should be one too? Pester me until I agree?" I smiled.

"Usually. I'm just telling you not to." His expression was indecipherable again. Gosh I wished I could see what he was thinking. Technically I could but not without the result being what I desperately hoped to avoid.

"You couldn't stop me if I decided to though. If I went up and asked Chapman now you couldn't stop it right?"

"I suppose not, I'm just asking you not to do that." There was a crease between his eyebrows now. He stared at me disbelief clear on his face.

"Why?" There was something unspoken behind his question but I didn't know what.

"Just don't. Please. For me." He nodded. I smiled. I leaned forward to kiss him but he pulled away. I felt suddenly miserable as a result of the small rejection.

"Sorry. I've had the flu. I don't want you getting sick." I looked away.

"Original." I muttered. When I turned to look back at him his face was inches away. Then his lips were fierce against mine. This was so much more than the small chaste kiss he'd given me out on the dunes. There was so much emotion, more than I was expecting, and definitely not the ones I was expecting. Anger, confusion, pain, desire, _love_. He broke away when my head was starting to spin.

/Okay. I'll give him this. He's an amazing kisser.\\

/Yes he is.\\ I agreed. Phillip raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hope you don't get sick."

"Can I risk contamination again?" I asked with a grin.

"No." it was not said unkindly however and I saw he was trying to suppress a grin of his own.

"Dang it." He reached out and clasped my hand.

"Later perhaps."

"I'll hold you to that. So is that why I haven't seen you in the last few days?"

"Yes. I was rather violently ill. I don't think I would have been good company these past few days."

"That sucks."

"Agreed." We were silent for a moment. My watch beeped making us both jump. I looked down; 3:00pm.

"Full member meeting." I said apolitically. He shook his head.

"Go on then. Go do whatever it is you full members do." I grabbed my bag and, before he could stop me or protest, kissed him on the cheek.

"Later."

To my surprise Phillip was still there when I got out of the 'full member' meeting. He was in the process of leaving though. He grabbed his bag and headed out. I thought of walking with him but I now had the unique opportunity of seeing his life without having to invade his head. I followed him. He didn't walk toward the suburbs as I expected but stopped in a remote area surrounded on all sides by trees. He ducked off the road. As if unable to help myself I followed.

He walked about a half mile into the woods. I wondered what the heck kind of house he lived in. Then he stopped and set his bag on the ground. He took off the loose T-shirt he had been wearing to reveal a black tank top. I almost averted my eyes when he stripped out of his jeans but I saw that he was wearing bike shorts underneath them. Huh? He closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened them again they were a bright dazzling green. Laura and I were momentarily stunned into silence. Laura recovered first.

/An Andalite!\\ If she'd had control over her body she would have been doubled over in laughter. /You're in love with an Andalite!\\ More laughter. I couldn't even find the will to punish her for her insolence. I knew every word was true. I looked back and he was fully Andalite now. To my surprise I recognized the Andalite youth that always remained out of morph. He was moving now getting ready to run deeper into the forest.

'_If I can just keep quiet for another second or two. . .' _No sooner had the thought flickered across my mind when a branch snapped beneath my shoe.

/Darvit!\\ I hissed.

The Andalite's tail whipped forward faster than my eyes could see, his blade stopping millimeters from my throat.


	9. Chapter 9

AXIMILLI'S POV- Followed

I scanned the immediate area searching for a threat. When I was satisfied there was none, I prepared to run to my scoop. Suddenly a branch cracked behind a tree nearby. It took only a minute shift of my weight to be within tails reach of whoever it was. My tail whipped forward meant only to threaten rather than to kill or incapacitate. Then I saw who the head my blade was only degrees away from removing belonged to. Why? Why had she decided to follow me? I could only see one of two conclusions for this unfortunate scenario. She would try to tell Visser three and I would have to kill her, the thought was almost physically painful. Or if I refused to kill her she or another of her kind would infest me and the fight for Earth would be lost.

She was staring at me with a sort of horrified awe. Her mouth opened as if she were going to say something but then closed again. I wondered how long we were going to stand here staring at each other. I looked her over. She did not appear to be carrying a Dracon beam but. . .

/Are you armed? Or must I check? \\ She seemed to come to herself then.

"Please. If I were armed why would I tell you? And what do you plan to do? Frisk me?" She laughed derisively.

/Yes I believe that is the Human term.\\ I said. /You can make this easier on yourself by telling me what I want to know.\\ She folded her arms across her chest. Stubborn, strong willed, irresistible Yeerk. I heard a flutter of wings as Tobias soared overhead.

/Hey Ax-man.\\ He greeted me in public thought-speak. /I was-Um Ax why do you have your tailblade at your girlfriend's throat?\\ I turned an eyestalk to look at him.

/She followed me.\\ I said flatly. Then privately; /I _told_ you it was very limiting to have only two eyes.\\ He laughed. I thought for a moment.

/I can't keep her here like this indefinitely. Is she concealing any weapons?\\

/If she is it won't be hard for me to see. That top wasn't made for weapon stashing.\\ He focused his intense gaze on Laura/Unknown Yeerk. Then he flew around and perched on the tree directly behind her . . . them.

/Dracon beam holstered just above her left hip. It's toward her back. That's why you didn't see it when you were looking.\\ I nodded. She stiffened as I stepped toward her and tried to move away. I was loathed to do it but I pressed my blade against her throat. Not hard enough to hurt but definitely enough for her to feel how sharp it was.

/Please remain still.\\

"Sure thing '_Phillip_'." She sneered making my human name a sound like a curse. Hiding the pain this caused me I reached down and lifted the hem of her shirt revealing the holstered Dracon beam. Her eyes narrowed fractionally but she said nothing. I removed the Dracon beam from its holster trying to ignore the feeling the taut muscles of her back beneath my hands. I pulled her shirt back down over the holster and backed away, Dracon beam in hand.

/Toss that over here Ax. I was going to tell you we need to meet in the barn soon but I guess now we _definitely_ need to meet. I'll take that to the others and you bring her.\\

/Very well.\\ I was scared. Scared that I was going to lose her. The others would demand her death. Perhaps not Cassie, and Tobias would not stand against me but would their opinions count enough in the end? I threw the Dracon beam in the air at the exact moment Tobias swooped from the tree talons extended. He caught it and took off.

/Hey Ax?\\ He said privately.

/Yes Tobias?\\

/Don't do anything stupid.\\ Then he was out of sight, soaring above the treetops. The Yeerk had been watching me, trying to make sense of our silent exchange. Then her expression shifted from annoyed and slightly fearful to calculating.

"So what now Andalite?" I removed my blade. Surprise flitted across her face for a moment but then her expression hardened again.

/Now we walk.\\

"And if I run?"

/I will knock you out and carry you if necessary. I was simply hoping to have you conscious.\\ Her eyebrows came together in an expression of deep puzzlement.

"Why would you want me conscious? Aren't you scared I'll try something?" I actually laughed.

/Forgive me for my bluntness but you'd be dead before you took two steps. And as for your previous inquiry you are much more interesting company when you're not snoring.\\

I thought I heard her mumble 'I don't snore' but whatever she said was too low for my ears to hear. I gestured for her to lead the way. She shot me a baleful look but acquiesced and walked in the direction I pointed. Walking was slow and tedious. I wanted to run but I knew she wouldn't and not having her in eyeshot was out of the question. Besides it would not have made much of a difference if she had decided to run, having only two legs limited how fast you could go.

"So why'd your friend leave us alone? Did he think your presence would impede my judgment? He's wrong you know. I have a duty to my people Andalite."

/Aximilli.\\

"What?"

/I have a name. My name is Aximili. Aximilli-Esgarrouth-Isthil.\\

"Your species has the oddest names."

/And yours doesn't?\\ To my surprise she laughed.

"I suppose your right. That feels so weird, actually agreeing with an Andalite."

/Its rather odd hearing it as well.\\ I paused. /What is your name?\\

"We don't have names, we have designations."

/Very well what is your designation?\\ She paused.

"Well I guess you did tell me your name so I'll tell you. It's Vexic. Vexic 929."

/What do the numbers signify?\\ She laughed.

"You don't know much about us do you? I mean you know about some things sure but about how we live?"

/I was only taught the basic physiology of your species.\\ I admitted grudgingly. She laughed again but it was harsh this time.

"Shall I tell you then?"

/If you wish.\\ That same look of surprise flickered across her face again but then she shrugged.

"Do you know how we reproduce? I can't really explain if you don't get that first."

/Fission?\\ She smiled ruefully.

"Yes I suppose that's a simple way of putting it. Three Yeerks join together. One inserts itself into the other and the remaining Yeerk wraps around the other two. No one knows if it's painful or not. No one survives to give a detailed account of it you see. The Tri-parents die slowly and each cell of the original three Yeerks becomes a new Yeerk. Grubs, as we're called at first." I was morbidly fascinated.

/That still doesn't answer my question.\\ I pointed out.

"I was getting to that. When we emerge the onboard computers can tell us who came out when. For example in my pool Odrett 177 emerged among the first. He was the hundred and seventy-seventh grub to emerge."

/You were the nine hundred twenty-ninth?\\ I guessed. She nodded. /How many Yeerks emerge?\\ She shrugged.

"One or two thousand generally. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less." I was stunned. That many Yeerks coming from only three. She watched my eyes widen slightly with a wry smile.

"That surprises you doesn't it? That we can reproduce in such numbers? We are genderless so there is no mixing of gametes. I and two others could create a new pool if there was a need. But we don't. Do you know why?" I thought about it for a moment then came to the obvious conclusion.

/Not enough hosts.\\

"Exactly. Do you know what that's like Andalite? To not be able to see or hear? To have only the vaguest sense of your surroundings? To know from birth how pathetically helpless you are?" I was taken off guard by her sudden fury. Then the fierce light in her eyes dimmed.

"No of course not." She said it mockingly. "What would an arrogant overlord of galaxy know of a Yeerk's plight?" I felt my own anger rise.

/You are totally blind and deaf. Dependant on someone else totally, trusting that they aren't about to squish you. Your instincts are not as strong as some I've encountered but they can be quite persistent.\\ I laughed and then continued; /The smallest sounds are like music. Wood paneling seems like a work of art. Every smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste is new and beautiful.\\ She stopped walking and stared at me, dumbstruck.

/We all have a Yeerk morph.\\ I said simply, stopping as well. She stared at me, brow furrowed in thought. After awhile though she finally spoke.

"You're taking me to the others." It was not a question. I sighed.

/Yes. I too have a duty.\\

"Killing me is your duty." I tried to keep the pain off my face but she caught it.

"Why do you care?" She seemed to be saying it more to herself than to me. I didn't answer. I couldn't.

/Let's get going.\\ She nodded.

"Hurry to your death little Yeerk."


	10. Chapter 10

VEXIC'S POV- Trust

This Andalite was driving me mad. I didn't know what to make of him. Had it been a trick from the very beginning? Was he just using me to get information? There were a lot more effective ways of doing that though, if that's what he'd been after. And that look of . . . had it been pain on his face when I'd talked about my death? Laura thought this whole situation was hilarious. Despite my façade of cold indifference and anger toward this Andalite, Aximilli, she knew better. It was still there in the way he talked. The insatiable curiosity. The way he carried himself was slightly different of course, but there was something in his stance. . .

/You've got it so bad.\\ Laura was mentally shaking her head.

/No I don't. I can't! He's. . . He's . . .\\

/Your worst enemy? And yet you explain everything about your kind to him? And are surprised when he doesn't rebuff you?\\

/That was hardly everything.\\

/That was a lot to tell an Andalite. Hardly normal conversation for two 'enemies'.\\ I caught what she was trying to imply.

/You can't be serious. He can't feel anything for me. I'm . . . and he's . . .\\ She was replaying the image of Aximilli's pained expression again.

/I don't think he cares.\\ She said quietly.

/But why?\\ I cried, totally bewildered.

/Because if I'm right, and I generally am, he loves you too, no matter what you are.\\ We walked about two miles in silence.

/Vexic?\\ The sound of his voice saying my name sent an odd thrill through me. Laura laughed quietly at my reaction.

"Yes?"

/The others are near. Please stay behind me.\\ I nodded once.

/Told you so.\\ Laura. /The guy's got a white knight complex. Geez.\\

We entered a clearing. Blocking our path were a tiger, a bear, a gorilla, a wolf, and a Hork-Bajir. Aximilli shifted his weight minutely, the action putting his body in front of mine if some one were to charge at me. I wanted to tell him to get out of the way. I didn't want him to get hurt. I was sure they'd hurt him if that's what it took to get rid of me. After all he could morph to fix any injury he sustained. But it seemed that I wasn't the only one who noticed.

/Move now Ax.\\ The voice I recognized as the leader's growled. Ax? Why did everyone keep calling him Ax? A nickname perhaps? Aximilli did not move. The voice sighed, exasperated.

/Do you mind Marco? But don't hurt him if you can help it.\\ Marco? They were . . . humans? The gorilla lumbered forward a step but stopped when there was suddenly a tailblade at his throat.

/If you like your limbs where they are I suggest you desist.\\ Aximilli stated coldly. Everyone in the clearing froze. Including me.

/Ax.\\ The voice that had been the hawk earlier. /You know we can't trust her.\\

/I will not stand by and let you kill her.\\ Aximilli was glaring at everyone in the small band of dangerous creatures, daring them to charge. The gorilla, Marco, took a step back, getting out of range of his blade once more.

/It's not even a her!\\ An angry female voice exclaimed. /It's an it.\\ I flinched.

/I do not wish to fight any of you but I will if I must.\\

/Why Ax? Why are you willing to fight us, your allies, to protect your enemy?\\

/Because . . .\\ He hesitated as though saying whatever he needed to say was difficult. Then he squared his shoulders and looked them all in the eyes. /Because I love her.\\

There was a beat of dead silence in the clearing and then four voices were speaking simultaneously. I didn't hear what they were saying though. He loved me. He felt the same way. I hadn't felt this euphoric since my first host. I felt rather light headed all of a sudden. Then a new female voice interrupted the others.

/SHUT UP!\\ Everyone fell silent. /Thank God. I thought you'd never stop. We could take her to Erek if she'll permit the uh . . . test. Then we know and you guys can leave Ax's love life alone.\\ I saw Aximilli relax the merest fraction. Whatever this new female had suggested he liked it much better than what the others had been saying.

/Vexic, you should probably brace yourself. Marco is not a very good driver.\\

When we pulled up to a rather bland looking white house in an unremarkable neighborhood I was on the edge of nervous collapse. Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Jake looked like they were about to be violently ill. Aximilli, who was back in human morph again, said nothing but his eyes were rather wider than usual as we took turns at speeds no reasonable human would go. A boy about a year younger than Laura stepped from the house and looked rather pointedly at Marco as we all exited the car.

"That _was_ a mailbox."

"Good to see you too Erek." Marco said, voice thick with sarcasm.

"I was just headed to meet you all out at the barn. Why didn't you just wait? I have important updates. You guys have a problem."

"No kidding." Rachel growled and grabbed my arm jerking me into sight. Erek's eyes widened.

"Um . . . why are you guys toting around a Sub-Visser by the arm?"I felt all of their eyes on me.

"You are a Sub-Visser?" Aximilli asked but his eyes were not accusatory or disbelieving like the others. I nodded.

"Sub-Visser two."

"Perfect." Rachel muttered. "Just perfect. Ax has a crush on a slug. And that slug happens to be a Sub-Visser. Things just keep getting better and better!"

"Calm down Rachel." Cassie turned to Erek.

"That's sorta why we came early Erek. Can you scan her for us? Ax won't let us touch her and we can't take any chances. . ." Erek nodded then his eyes shifted to me.

"You need to leave your host." I stared at him, incredulous.

"You've got to be joking. They'll kill me!"

I felt someone take my hand. I looked down and saw Aximilli's fingers intertwined with mine. "They won't touch you. I promise." I couldn't doubt the sincerity of his words or the absolute confidence in his eyes. So I took a deep breath and then began to disconnect from Laura's brain.


	11. Chapter 11

AXIMILLI'S POV-Confessions and Captures

I let go of Laura's hand to reach up and catch Vexic before she fell. It surprised me how little it bothered me now. Now that I had embraced my feelings for this Yeerk, this Vexic 929, her appearance did not bother me nearly as much as it used to. I examined the small three inch gastropod lying exposed and vulnerable in my palm. She did not look any different than any other Yeerk. Same grey-green skin underlaid with darker green markings on her back. This small creature was the one I loved.

"Stop that." Marco snapped. I looked at him taken aback by his sharp tone.

"Stop what?"

"Staring at it like that. It's making me nauseous." My glare had him taking several steps back.

"Um Ax I hate to break up this tender moment but could I see her for a moment?" I shot Erek a warning glance.

"If you harm her. . ." I began. He rolled his eyes.

"The removal of heads will commence. Yeah yeah I know." I reluctantly held my hand out to him. The small chamber opened and he slid Vexic inside. I did not watch the wires envelop her small form. I wondered briefly if it hurt her but dismissed the idea. The Chee could never intentionally hurt another being, even the ones they helped us fight. I watched his expression go from its usual calm, to alarm, then surprise, and settle finally on outright disbelief.

"Well?" Prince Jake said impatiently. It was not like him to be so impetuous. It took several tries for Erek to express what it had been that had shaken him so.

"She. . . I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it." He said after several failed attempts at speech. Then he looked at me.

"She loves you Ax." The others just stared him. I felt an exultant grin stretch my face. I saw Cassie smile a little too but the others were still too dumfounded to speak.

"Oh that's what you wanted to know?" Laura's voice was somehow familiar and yet completely alien to me. She shook her head and snorted. "If you'd asked _I_ could have told you that." Everyone turned to stare at her now. She crossed her arms across her chest.

"What? She's been angsting about it for days. Got quite annoying after awhile." She rolled her eyes. "She was absolutely terrified you were going to become a 'full member'. She didn't want any of her slug buddies taking you over but she also knew that would happen eventually if she kept dating you. You fascinated her. She couldn't read you like she could other people. So she followed you. Just imagine our surprise when we found out you were an Andalite!" She laughed then shook her head.

"She's so whipped. I mean even when she knew . . . she still saw the things that drew her to you in the first place in your Andalite self as well. There were things she wanted to tell you before but she played the whole cold and indifferent Sub-Visser role because she thought you had been using her to get information. Then when you said you loved her, confirmed you felt the same way she did . . . she was downright giddy." Laura shook her head again, disbelieving. I looked to Erek for conformation. He nodded.

"Well," Marco said, breaking the tense silence that followed. "This complicates things."

We were inside the King's house. I was listening to the conversation but my back was to the others. I was watching Vexic. She was swimming in the King's sink which was about halfway full with semi-cold water. I put one finger into the water and stroked her back. She shied away from the touch.

/Its okay.\\ I told her in private thought-speak. /It's just me.\\ She brushed my finger, the only acknowledgment she could give in her current state. I was vaguely aware of the others planning an assault on the new Yeerk pool entrance located in a store at the mall. It was still under construction so now was the best time to attack. When everyone stood I straightened, preparing to demorph. The others shot me uneasy glances then looked away.

"What is it?" I asked perplexed. Their behavior did not make sense. Prince Jake stared at me, his face expressionless.

"You're not coming with us Ax." I felt my face go blank with shock.

"Why? What have I done?" There was a hint of an apology in his eyes now.

"Until the situation with this Yeerk-"

"Vexic." I said dully.

"Fine. Until the situation with Vexic can be resolved we're not sure we can count on you in a fight." I looked down so he would not see how much his words had affected me.

"Very well Prince Jake."

"Sorry Ax but you made a choice." Then he turned on his heel and left, the others following behind him more slowly.

/Ax . . .\\ Tobias began.

/Go.\\ I said the barely repressed anger and hurt tingeing my voice now. He did.

Ten minutes passes before Erek's "father" Mr. King came into the room and found me pacing, agitated. He handed me a small device.

"It's not much but it will probably keep you from pacing like a caged panther." He left the room. I looked down and saw that he had handed me a Yeerk hand-held computer. He was right. It did make me feel marginally better to have access to what was going on while the others were fighting. With a little effort I managed to hack into the Yeerk mainframe. I skimmed through the database. Most of it was status reports, lists of hosted and unhosted Yeerks, and other such trivial things but as I watched my fascination turned to horror. I checked the new report again making sure I had not misunderstood. No it was exactly what I had thought it had said. The others had been captured in morph attempting to sabotage a new project and were awaiting the Visser's arrival to Earth.

The Visser would get this message soon I was sure. Then it would take him how long to reach Earth in a Bug fighter? Thirty minutes, maybe less. I was struck with how hopeless the situation was. There was no way I could get to them in time and what could one Andalite do against a battalion of Hork-Bajir? I would have to bypass security without being seen for a start and then . . . I had an idea. Why hadn't I thought of it before?

I set the hand held computer down on the table and strode over to the sink, not giving myself time to think about what I was about to do. I stuck my hand in the water, scooped up Vexic, and brought her swiftly to my ear.


	12. Chapter 12

VEXIC'S POV- Rescue mission

I was swimming my hundredth lap around the small area; I assumed it was a sink or a tub of some sort, when something warm closed around me. I recognized the smell as the scent of Aximili's human morph. What was going on? I used my sonar to get a picture. What I "saw" stunned me. It was an opening. He wanted me to infest him? I hesitated.

/Vexic I know you're confused but I don't have time to explain right now. Just do it.\\ His thought-speak voice was hard, determined.

I slid off his palm and into the ear canal. It was definitely human, so that meant he hadn't morphed back yet. I pushed things aside, probing further anesthetizing the ear canal as I went along. Then I reached what I'd been searching for, the brain. I spread myself thin over the entire surface of it fitting myself perfectly to its contours, connecting to neurons and synapses. I was in control. I then became aware of the mind I was controlling, and it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.

I'd experienced the barely sentient mind of a Gedd, the dull incomprehension of a Hork-Bajir, the minds of several rebellious humans. This was new. I had never had a host that could best me for control, but I was sure if he tried this Andalite would put up one hell of a struggle. His mind was razor sharp, reasoning, logical, strategy-oriented. At the same time it was many other things too, creative, adaptable, and to my surprise optimistic. That optimism was marred by something however.

/Vexic!\\ Aximilli was trying to bring my attention back to the matter at hand, half exasperated, half amused.

/Yeah. I got it. What's-\\ When he knew I was aware enough to comprehend he bombarded me with images.

** "**_**You're not coming with us Ax." I felt my face go blank with shock. **_

_** "Why? What have I done?" There was a hint of an apology in his eyes now. **_

_** "Until the situation with this Yeerk-"**_

_** "Vexic." I said dully.**_

_** "Fine. Until the situation with Vexic can be resolved we're not sure we can count on you in a fight." I looked down so he would not see how much his words had affected me. **_

_** "Very well Prince Jake." **_

_** "Sorry Ax but you made a choice." Then he turned on his heel and left, the others following behind him more slowly. **_

_** /Ax . . .\\ Tobias began. **_

_** /Go.\\ I said the barely repressed anger and hurt tingeing my voice now. He did. **_I barely had time to recover before he threw another one at me.

_**"It's not much but it will probably keep you from pacing like a caged panther." He left the room. I looked down and saw that he had handed me a Yeerk hand-held computer. He was right. It did make me feel marginally better to have access to what was going on while the others were fighting. With a little effort I managed to hack into the Yeerk mainframe. I skimmed through the database. Most of it was status reports, lists of hosted and unhosted Yeerks, and other such trivial things but as I watched my fascination turned to horror. I checked the new report again making sure I had not misunderstood. No it was exactly what I had thought it had said. The others had been captured in morph attempting to sabotage a new project and were awaiting the Visser's arrival to Earth. **_

Dread washed through me. The Visser. The others would not last long if he were their torturer. The images did not stop there however.

_** It would take him how long to reach Earth in a Bug fighter? Thirty minutes, maybe less. I was struck with how hopeless the situation was. There was no way I could get to them in time and what could one Andalite do against a battalion of Hork-Bajir? I would have to bypass security without being seen for a start and then . . . I had an idea. Why hadn't I thought of it before? **_

_** I set the hand held computer down on the table and strode over to the sink, not giving myself time to think about what I was about to do. I stuck my hand in the water, scooped up Vexic, and brought her swiftly to my ear.**_

The flood of images stopped so abruptly it almost made me dizzy. I now understood his urgency. If the others weren't rescued soon they'd all be dead or controllers. His idea was brilliant in its simplicity.

/You're right. They won't be expecting this avenue of approach at all. And even if they did they would think you couldn't pull it off. There's only one Andalite Bandit still free after all.\\ I shook my head. /Brilliant.\\

He said nothing but I felt his happiness at my praise. Laura walked in the room at that moment.

"Um Ax or Aximilli or whatever you like to be called, Erek sent me in here to check on you." She measured the expression on my, our face.

"Not good?" I walked over to her and handed her the hand-held computer. She scanned the message and understanding filled her face.

"Vexic." She breathed. I nodded.

"Tell Erek and Mr. King where we are." And then an idea occurred to me. It would get me demoted but if I did it right I would still be alive after all was said and done. I made Aximilli demorph. I felt his confusion but ignored it for the time being. When he was fully Andalite I reached out and took Laura's hand. I focused my hardest and was gratified when I felt her DNA pattern join many others in Aximilli's bloodstream. I could almost hear it when he got what I was going to do. He laughed aloud.

/You're going to waltz right in there and free them! You'll be caught on camera demorphing so you aren't accused of being a traitor and killed but . . .\\ He was lost for words.

/Very impressive.\\ He said finally. I felt my spirits lift.

/Thanks. Now let's go.\\

/Agreed.\\ I strode toward the door not waiting for Laura to come out of the acquiring trance. Despite the situation I could not contain my joy when we soared into the night. I could see and hear _everything._ Aximilli gave me the mental equivalent of an amused head shake.

/I enjoy flying as well, but is now necessarily the time?\\ I would have blushed if the body of the Northern Harrier had permitted such an action.

/Sorry.\\ We flew the rest of the way in silence. We both tensed a little as we landed outside the mall. Making sure no one was around we began to demorph, then morph Human. When the changes were done I straightened examining the tight brown tank top and form fitting denim shorts that clothed this body.

/Well at least I have clothes on.\\ I muttered. It was early evening now. It was a shock to realize that only hours ago what I was doing now would have seemed traitorous to me. Now it seemed like the only thing I _could_ do, like it was inevitable. I stopped at the GAP. I perused the racks, quickly selecting a nondescript green T-shirt. I stopped in front of the bored looking receptionist.

"Um . . . which dressing room do I try this on in?" Aximilli was confused. He thought surely I knew which dressing room the entrance was located in. I shushed him.

"Dressing room four but could I have your number for our mailing list?" She handed me a sheet of paper. The poor Andalite was thoroughly lost.

/Its code.\\ I explained. /A human will put down their name and phone number. One of us would know to put down their designation and what pool they're from.\\ I took the pen she handed me and scrawled;

'Vexic 929 of the Sulp Niar pool.' I handed the paper back to the receptionist. She looked it over and then smiled.

"Have a nice day ma'am." I nodded and headed to the dressing room. Once inside I hung the green shirt on the return rack. I went over to the deceptively innocent looking mirror and, finding the hinges easily after much practice, opened it. Four other people waited just inside. The entrance swung closed behind me and one of them glanced at me.

"Sub-Visser!" She exclaimed, dropping her gaze immediately. The other three tensed slightly. I have that kind of effect on people.

"Elness." I replied dryly. Aximilli laughed, enjoying the other Yeerk's discomfort. "So is it true?" I asked, feigning nonchalance.

"Yes Sub-Visser, the Andalites were captured trying to attack the new pool entrance." There were only two now and they were still not looking at me. I forced a laugh.

"It's about time. Have any of them demorphed yet?"

"Not yet." I shrugged keeping the relief off my face. Then the Gleetbiofilter swished open again and the last male before Elness and I stepped in. We waited. The doors opened once more and Elness stepped through.

/This is it.\\ Aximilli said tersely. The doors swung open yet again.

/Showtime.\\ I muttered, and stepped through.

I walked down yet another corridor. I knew when I had come to the right one when I saw the band of Hork-Bajir and human-controllers guarding the entrance to a large steel door at the end of the hall. They straightened as I approached showing the respect and fear warranted a Sub-Visser. One of the Human-controllers, his host a middle aged male, stepped forward.

"I'm sorry Sub-Visser but Visser Three ordered that anyone attempting to gain entrance to this corridor be scanned." He was uneasy. I let some of the irritation I was feeling show on my face. I sighed, exasperated.

"Very well." I made a show of tapping my foot impatiently while the scanner processed its readings. Then the screen flickered and turned green. Positive. I raised an eyebrow at the nervous man.

"Satisfied?" I asked coldly. He nodded and averted his eyes. I addressed them all in my best 'Sub-Visser' voice.

"The Andalites refuse to demorph correct?" They all nodded. I smirked and continued; "I have orders from the Visser to see that they are persuaded to do so." I saw a small shiver run through the crowd. I turned my gaze back to the nervous man.

"If you would be so kind as to let me through." He nodded and fumbled in his pockets until he found the key card. He slid it through. The indicator light above the door turned from red to green and the door swung open. I strode past them without another glance. After we were a safe distance away Aximilli snickered.

/Have I ever mentioned how incredible you are Vexic?\\ I felt a jolt of surprise followed by immediate unthinking pleasure.

/Um no . . .?\\

/Well now I have.\\ I waited until I was sure there was at least one camera watching my progress down the corridor, then began to demorph. There were three more Hork-Bajir at the end of this corridor. They were considerably more relaxed than the others we had seen. Of course they would be. Anyone who had gotten this far had to be one of them and therefore no danger. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt. I was one of them, and I would have to kill them for doing what I would have done only yesterday. I gave Aximilli back control of his limbs. I didn't have time to learn how to tailfight, best to leave that to those with more experience.

The Hork-Bajir straightened when they heard our approach. Then they saw that the Andalite standing in front of them was not the Visser and stared disbelievingly.

/Hello boys.\\ And with that he struck. The first one was down before he had time to recover from the shock. The second reacted to Aximilli's expert swing poorly and met the same fate as the first. The third was trying to unholster his Dracon beam. He subsequently lost an arm before he lost his head. Aximilli wanted to be going right away but I seized control again bending to pick up the Hork-Bajir's Dracon beam. It would be awkward to use, as it had been made for Hork-Bajir hands, but I had definitely handled worse. I retrieved the key card from the Hork-Bajir first dispatched. I slid it through and waited. The light turned green.

The room was large and at its center was a huge cage flanked by two burly Hork-Bajir. Inside the cage a tiger paced, agitated. A wolf watched the tiger with something like concern in its black eyes. A bear slammed itself into the side of the cage repeatedly. A gorilla sat staring at the wall, a hawk perched on its shoulders. Everyone looked up as I entered the room. I gave Aximilli back partial control and I leveled the Dracon beam at one of the Hork-Bajir as he arched his tail threateningly.

/Now,\\ I said. /You can leave, or you can join them.\\ I inclined my head toward the remains of the three Hork-Bajir. They left, running past me. I smirked and leveled the Dracon beam at the automated lock on the cage. It emitted a shower of sparks and a pillar of smoke and then the door of the cage opened. The animals leapt, flew, or lumbered from the cage with cries of;

/AX!\\ Tobias.

/Whoa man are we glad to see you!\\ Marco.

/You took out three Hork-Bajir? On your own? Are you okay?\\ Cassie.

/Nice job. Have I ever mentioned how awesome Andalites are?\\ Rachel. I let Aximilli speak, not wanting to explain just yet.

/I am unharmed.\\ he said. /However we must hurry. The Visser is on his way and I do not believe we want to witness his displeasure at your escape.\\ There was a general murmur of agreement. We set off down the corridor again this time followed by a tiger, a bear, a gorilla, a wolf and a hawk.

/Ax about what I said earlier . . .\\ Jake said privately, sounding abashed.

/It is quite alright Prince Jake.\\ he said.

/No Ax its not. I mean I was an idiot. It was just prejudice on my part. I'm sorry.\\

/Very well but if you had allowed me to come along I too would have been captured. I believe the human phrase is 'it all worked out for the best'?\\ Jake laughed.

/Yeah I suppose you're right. When we get out of here you've got to fill us in on this story. I bet it's a doozy.\\ He laughed.

/Yes it is Prince Jake. Quite a doozy.\\


	13. Chapter 13

AXIMILLI'S POV- Vexic's Choice

The Animorphs did not speak much as we flew back toward the King's home. I supposed having such a close call with death or infestation would make one rather introspective. Vexic and I had not talked much either since we had liberated the others. I did not see why she did not tell them of her part in their rescue. There could be no doubt where her loyalties lay now.

/They'll never accept me.\\ She said simply, reading my thoughts as they came to mind.

/After all you have done? Is would be dishonorable of them.\\ I protested. She chuckled wearily.

/Perhaps.\\ She paused. /Think about it from their perspective Aximilli. However much I may come in handy for missions like this, I'm still a Yeerk. I still take unwilling hosts. I'm a Sub-Visser Aximilli! Do you know what I've done to get to that rank? No. Neither do they. They fear what they don't know.\\ What she said sounded plausible. Still I stubbornly held to my belief that my friends were less chauvinistic than that. She laughed at me but it was not an unkind sound.

/You're still young aren't you?\\ I felt myself become slightly irritated. Was she being condescending? She sighed. /No high strung little Andalite I'm not being condescending. I'm just asking a question.\\

/Yes.\\ I said finally. /I'm about the same age as the others. Only an Aristh. No Princes survived. I am the only Andalite on Earth.\\ I was sure she felt the despair and loneliness this fact always made me feel. I felt something odd then, like something warm was wrapping around me, like an embrace. I realized with a start that the sensation was coming from Vexic. She was. . . comforting me?

/Yes silly Andalite. It's something we can do for our hosts though most don't. Comforting feelings, happy memories, so on and so forth. The connection is two-way you see. I can see your thoughts and feelings and vice versa. The memory transfer is more complicated, more one sided. I can see anything I want but you can only see my memories if I show them to you.\\

/Which is why most don't? If it's not a necessity . . .\\

/Don't give them any extra ammo.\\ She finished dryly. Then her thoughts trailed off in another direction.

/May I?\\ I knew what she was asking. I also knew she didn't have to ask if that was what she wanted. She was trying to respect my privacy. I would have smiled if I'd been able.

/Yes you may.\\

'_**Human legs are impossible.' I thought to myself. How did they manage to get about without causing grievous injury to themselves? I felt myself about to fall again. I resolved not to tell the others. I had been doing a marginally better job walking as a human and did not want to ruin the status. I fell into someone much to my chagrin. As I straightened, preparing to stand, I saw the person I'd knocked over and froze momentarily. **_

_** She was small even for a Human. Her face was small as well with delicate features. Her dark hair stirred slightly in the soft breeze. Her eyes were dark brown, almost black, and were staring at me with startling intensity. I got up and offered her my hand. She grasped it firmly and my heartbeat became uneven. The oddest sensation erupted in the pit of my stomach, like there were winged insects trying to escape its confines. What was happening to me? I resolved to ask Prince Jake and Marco about it later. **_

The memory had been as vivid and real as though it had just happened. I braced myself as another one came. ____

_** 'We walked along the beach our hands intertwined as I had seen the others do on occasion. I now understood why. The fluttering in my stomach had multiplied as she led me across the dunes her hand never leaving mine. I watched her as she moved. She was beautiful. She stopped suddenly and let our hands drop. She reached up, as l was much taller than her, and guided my face down to hers with a gentle touch. Moonlight bathed her in an ethereal glow and her eyes danced. Her breath was warm against my face as she spoke. **_

_** "You're dead Andalite."'**_

_** I woke with a start. **_

__Then another;

_** "Let's go." She says and the light is back in her eyes again. She leads me away from the dance floor, away from the impossibly delicious food, and the party altogether. She led me out onto the beach our fingers still intertwined. The night was lit only by the moon and stars. We walked and the only sounds were our breathing, the lap of the waves against the shore, and the faint strains of the song. **_

_** She stood staring up at the stars. "I love the night sky." She said simply. I walked slowly to stand close to her.**_

_** "Yes it is quite beautiful." **_

_** 'Oh I just can't take it, my heart is racing, the emotions keep spinning out. . .' **_

_** I reached down and took her face in my hands. Her eyes widened slightly. I bent slowly giving her time to protest if she wished, and pressed my mouth against hers. Her hand came up to touch my face, my hair. I felt an odd thrill at my success. I broke away after a moment.**_

__Then another, this one more painful than the rest.

_**I had barely demorphed when Tobias landed and began to morph.**_

_** /What is it?\\ I asked alarmed. Why did he feel the need to morph?**_

_** /I need to look you in the face when I tell you this.\\ his tone sent a chill down my spine. When he was fully Human Tobias straightened. He turned and the look on his face froze me in place. **_

_** "I'm sorry Ax." He said.**_

_** /No.\\ It couldn't be. . .**_

_** "Laura is a controller." **_

I felt her discomfort at the memory but she continued regardless.

_**A Yeerk. She was a Yeerk. The girl I thought I loved was a controller. How long had it been that way? Most likely the whole time. So was it the girl I loved or . . . no. There was no way I could love one of those parasites. Still I was unsure. It had been almost three days since I had found out she was a controller. I had been disbelieving at first, then appalled. I had kissed her! I had willingly touched one of them! The others had tried to make me feel better by telling me it was all physical attraction to Laura but I knew better. It had been my observations of her character that had caused my 'crush' to become something more. Artifice, all of it. **_Vexic cringed away from the hostility of the memory then opened yet another.

_** She sat down and as I watched her I realized I did not know her. The eyes I saw glaring at the Hork-Bajir or looking mournfully at the floor of the cage were not the eyes of the girl I loved. When the Hork-Bajir came to drag her to the pier again I watched the way her body moved. No. Not the girl I loved. Then she straightened and looked around her and I saw the eyes I'd searched for in the Human's face. When she walked away I saw the easy stride I had been missing. It was the Yeerk. It was the Yeerk I loved. **_

_** /Ax . . .\\ Tobias warned hearing the direction my thoughts were going. **_

_** /I know.\\ We left. Tobias exited my head and demorphed in the sharing's bathroom. **_

_** /Hey Ax? I'm gonna spend the night at Rachel's if you don't mind.\\ **_

_** /I do not.\\ I hesitated. /Tobias? I would appreciate it if you would not tell the others of this.\\ **_

_** /Alright Ax.\\ Then he took flight. I morphed owl and flew back to my scoop, still somewhat stunned by my revelation. I turned on the Television too keyed up to sleep. Tobias had apparently been watching MTV because the song's lyrics blared out of the speakers at me like a message sent from some unknown God above. **_

_** 'So many thoughts that I can't get out of my head, I try to live without you every time I do I feel dead. I know what's best for me but I want you instead, I'll keep on wasting all my time' I shut the television off and curled up. **_

_** /The universe hates me.\\ I mumbled to myself. **_

She laughed at my sarcasm. I wasn't very good at it apparently.

/No you're not.\\ She said laughing again. Another memory flickered in my head.

_**I let go of Laura's hand to reach up and catch Vexic before she fell. It surprised me how little it bothered me now. Now that I had embraced my feelings for this Yeerk, this Vexic 929, her appearance did not bother me nearly as much as it used to. I examined the small three inch gastropod lying exposed and vulnerable in my palm. She did not look any different than any other Yeerk. Same grey-green skin underlaid with darker green markings on her back. This small creature was the one I loved. **_

/How can you love me like _that_?\\ She asked disbelieving.

/It's who you are.\\ I said simply. She was at a loss for words.

_**She was amazing. She was brilliant and beautiful and simply amazing. She had tricked an entire battalion of Hork-Bajir and Human Controllers. A double bluff as it were. I had been right before. She would have made good Andalite.**_

__The images did not stop but they were no longer familiar to me, no longer my images. I realized with some trepidation that these must be Vexic's memories.

_**I would have expressed my displeasure thoroughly and at great length had I not been stunned momentarily by who I was staring at. He was an adolescent male, probably around my host's age, maybe 5'8 with slightly muscled arms. His face is what was captivating though. He had dark brown eyes, sun streaked brown hair, and very symmetrical features. There were aspects of him that reminded me of somebody else but I couldn't quite figure out who. **_

_** "I am so sorry. Re. Sorry. I am not very coordinated." He got to his feet. He offered me his hand and I took it. He looked around to see the papers that had scattered. He reached toward one. **_

_** "No. Let me get those." I said. If he looked at a single word on those papers he'd have to become one of us. But why did that seem like such a bad thing to me? Wasn't that my job? 'No not yet. He doesn't need to be one of us yet.' **_

And another, the mirror image of the one she had played before;

_**Oh Dear God I can't. I can't fall in love with a Human! Falling in love with one of my own was one thing but this . . . this would be considered treason. I had thought it had been all Laura, her pheromone filled body playing tricks on my mind. It had happened before with others, but the confusion always went away after the Yeerk disconnected from the brain. **_

_** I had left Laura that night and to my utter horror I was still thinking about him. More even than when I was with Laura! Laura had seen it as a betrayal to Tom and when her distracting emotions were gone I found that I could focus on the memory of his moonlit face all too clearly. So it was me that was supplying these feelings? How could that be possible? By the Kandrona he wasn't even my species! How could a Yeerk love a human? I did love him though and the thought of one of my brothers taking him, of him knowing what I was and hating me for it, was agonizing. **_

The next memory was awhile after that and tinged with emotion.

_**/Because . . .\\ He hesitated as though saying whatever he needed to say was difficult. Then he squared his shoulders and looked them all in the eyes. /Because I love her.\\ **_

_** There was a beat of dead silence in the clearing and then four voices were speaking simultaneously. I didn't hear what they were saying though. He loved me. He felt the same way. **_

The images stopped. It made me sad somehow for it to end. The process had been very intense. I now understood to some degree why some Yeerks suffered from identity confusion. It took a very strong personality to be able to separate yourself from that. To make yourself something other, to not let it be apart of you.

/Its always apart of us.\\ Vexic corrected me quietly. /I'll always have your memories now. It's how we are. We always take a small part of our host's essence with us when we leave them.\\ I said nothing but there was an unspoken understanding between us as we began our decent.

The others demorphed quickly, heading into the King's house. We lagged behind, Vexic still not wanting to face the others.

/You risked the Visser's wrath, went toe to toe with a battalion of Hork-Bajir and won, but you're scared of four human teenagers and a hawk?\\

/You did most of the fighting but I see your point.\\ She laughed at herself. Laura, Mr. King and Erek waited for as we entered.

"Thank God." Erek said putting a hand up to where his heart should be. Did androids have hearts?

/Don't over think it Aximilli. He's just glad everyone made it back okay.\\ Vexic told me exasperated.

"Hey Yeerk-girl." Marco greeted Laura as he walked in. She and Erek exchanged a glance.

"What?" Marco said clearly not catching on.

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what?" Laura nodded at me.

"Vexic went with Ax to save you guys. He wouldn't have gotten past security without her." I felt the others' gazes on me.

"You've had a Yeerk in your head the entire time?" Marco said disbelievingly. I nodded.

"Well um . . . that's . . . weird." He was looking at me with suspicion. I felt a wave of . . . was that smugness? Coming from Vexic.

/Told you so.\\ Oh yes most definitely smug. / I'll leave now so they won't keep giving you the stink eye.\\

/How can an eye be odorous?\\ I wondered. She laughed.

/You're hopeless.\\

Control slowly seeped back into my limbs as she disconnected from my brain. I knew when she was completely gone because the sense of her, the presence that had lingered with me the entire night was gone. I felt suddenly empty, as though a part of me had been ripped away. I reached up and caught her before she could fall, holding her gingerly in the palm of my hand.

/So what do we do with her?\\ Tobias.

THAT IS ENTIRELY HER CHOICE.

/Ellimist!\\ I hissed. A booming laugh.

YES AXIMILLI. IT IS VEXIC'S CHOICE NOW. SHE HAS RISKED MUCH. I AM GIVING HER SOMETHING THAT WILL BENEFIT YOU ALL IF SHE CHOOSES CORRECTLY.

I noticed suddenly that Vexic was no longer on my palm.

/What have you done with her Ellimist?\\ I demanded. I didn't care that he could wipe me from existence with a thought. I wanted her back and I wanted her back now. Another laugh.

PATIENCE YOUNG ANDALITE. SHE IS STILL DECIDING. Agonizing minutes passed.

SHE HAS CHOSEN WELL. SHE WILL HAVE TO REVERT TO HER NATURAL FORM EVERY TWO HOURS OR STAY IN THIS FORM FOREVER. Something large fell hard and fast to the floor.

/Ouch.\\ said a familiar voice. I stared disbelieving. It had been Vexic speaking of that there could be no doubt, but the body did not match the voice.

Vexic stood hesitantly on her four legs, as unsure on them as a newborn would have been. She scanned the room with her stalk eyes, her main eyes focused intently on me. Her eyes were a dazzling emerald green. Her fur was the bluish-purple that marked her as female. She held her long slender tail at shoulder level, her smaller blade about level with the tip of her ear. She reminded me oddly of a mix of Estrid and the distracting female at the academy. I realized that this was entirely possible. Vexic smiled as she saw me ogling her. I dropped my gaze, my cheeks flushing slightly.

"So that's what happens when Andalites blush!" Laura said bringing the surreal moment back to reality. Everyone stared at her.

"What? I've always wondered. . ." Everyone laughed, myself and Vexic included.

Everyone decided it was time to go home then. Vexic got permission to acquire Tobias's DNA. We flew in silence. I suspected she was simply enjoying the freedom and mobility of it. I was seeing her over and over again in my head. Beautiful and deadly, the intelligence of the Yeerk I loved shining from emerald green eyes.

We landed and demorphed. I heard Vexic morphing again behind me. I turned and there she was. She trotted toward me.

/It's so amazing! Seeing like this. Not through someone's eyes but having them actually be your own.\\ She smiled.

/I'm going on and on aren't I?\\ Her cheeks flushed.

/No you're not. You are new to this it is understandable. And what's the human phrase . . . 'I think it's cute?'\\ I came closer to her. She looked at me then and I did not hold back.

I closed the distance between us easily. If the closeness of our bodies made her uncomfortable she did not show it. I lifted a hand to stroke her face with my palm. She gasped with the sensation. I smiled. Human faces were not as touch sensitive as Andalite faces, this would not evoke such a strong reaction in a Human. I caressed her face, her temples, the line of her jaw. She made a small sound of protest when I pulled away.

/What was that?\\ She asked shaken.

/That, my dearest Vexic, is a kiss.\\ I was momentarily lost in her eyes when they sparkled in delight at my use of the word 'dearest'.

/Oh.\\

/So what must you do tomorrow?\\ She rolled her eyes, quite an interesting thing to watch when you have four, and shrugged.

/Probably get chewed out by the Visser. He won't kill me because of my rank and because you demorphed on camera. Still I should probably have a bruise from a tailblade tomorrow just to make it look like you had to knock me out to get my DNA.\\ I nodded. I felt her eyes on me then and I returned her gaze.

/We have two hours right?\\ She asked quietly.

/Yes we do.\\

She smiled then and raised her hand up to my face. Her touch sent an electric current through my body, sending every cell into overload. She stroked my face gently.

/Two hours.\\ She murmured. I do not believe I had ever heard such beautiful words.

THE END


End file.
